Intro to Adobe After Effects Creating Compositions

Hi, welcome back to educator.com.0000

This next lesson is going to be on compositions.0002

First we are going to learn how to create a composition.0007

In After Effects, as in most Adobe products, there is always several ways to complete one task.0013

A composition, if you think of a composition, is more like a stage.0020

This is where all the action takes place. This is where all the actors and their props live.0025

This is what our audience will finally see.0031

So, to create a composition.0033

This is our composition window. Let us create a new composition from scratch here.0036

So, there is this three ways we can create a composition.0041

We can create one right from the project window.0044

We can click this button here. Create a new composition.0048

And when we do that it pops up a new menu. And this is where we can name the composition.0051

Just call it New comp.0059

If we hit Tab we can toggle through all the different fields.0061

Here we have different presets - web videos, DV settings, film settings.0066

It is all in there. If you do not see one in there you make your own.0073

You can set your different aspect ratios in here. You can uncheck this.0076

I like to work in square pixels.0082

You can set your frame right here.0084

You can set your resolution, which will change all the time, the background color.0086

Another way to create a composition. Let us delete that.0095

You can go up to the composition window. Hit new composition.0102

It pops up the same window.0105

Another way is you can hit Command-N.0108

It pops up the composition there.0111

Let us go to an actual composition and talk about the different toggles and switches here.0117

All the different comps settings.0125

Here are the different magnification pop-ups.0130

Basically, in here you can set how far or how close you want to work, 100 percent, 200 percent.0135

I rarely use this window. I think a lot of us use the Command-plus or minus, as in Photoshop or the arrow buttons here.0144

You have a grid here. This is where you can have your grid and guidelines, title safe, action safe.0156

I use this a lot when I am doing title work.0165

Make sure that your titles are in the action safe areas.0168

You have different grids that you can pop up here.0172

Depends on how you like to work or the kind of project you are working.0177

You can pull up rulers and you can bring in different rulers here and there. Let me turn this off.0179

So, the next window over here is what we are using if you want to change the visibility of masks.0189

They get pretty covered sometimes when you are working.0195

Let me turn this off here.0198

We have the go to time window here.0201

When we type in a value you can go directly to that point in the layers window.0206

We have snapshots, we can save still, we have the RGB channel, which comes in handy.0211

This is where we can set the setting at full resolution, a quarter resolution, half, third.0217

Just depends on what kind of project you are working on.0224

Here is where we can have a region of interest.0227

Let us say we just want to zoom in on one specific area.0230

We can click this button here and zoom in.0234

We are just have it very selected, sold out.0239

Here is our transparency grid, your active camera which you will get into later with 3D cameras.0244

And we can view two, three windows, even four windows at a time. 0256.3 Again that we might use that were using 3D cameras.0250

Go to change that back.0261

This Windows will get into later as well.0264

So, that is, kind of, our composition window.0266

Covered all the toggle switches, toggle buttons.0272

One thing I should assure you too is that up in this right corner you can also change the size and the view options.0276

You can set the motion blurs and things like that.0286

So again, think of a composition window as a stage.0291

This is where we will see our final renders.0294

Great, so that completes our discussion on compositions.0303

Thank you for watching educator.com.0306